Obama to hear advice of service chiefs on Iraq

Obama to hear advice of service chiefs on Iraq
By Jennifer Loven - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jan 27, 2009 21:27:46 EST

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama plans to hear the opinions of the four U.S. military service chiefs Wednesday, which the White House called one more step toward fulfilling his promise of withdrawing all combat troops from Iraq.

The service chiefs are among those in the Pentagon hierarchy who have expressed concerns about the impact that long, repeated war tours in Iraq have had on the U.S. military. The chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — the president’s senior uniformed military advisers — and Defense Secretary Robert Gates will also be at the meeting, to be held at the Pentagon in the afternoon.

“The president has laid down the test of ensuring that he hears specifically from both those on the ground and in the region before he makes decisions on our force posture going forward,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday. “He looks forward to going over there and to listening to what they have to say.”

Obama pledged during his campaign to remove all combat troops from Iraq by May 2010. However, he has said that he would consult with military commanders first and adjust his timeline if it would risk the safety of U.S. troops remaining behind to train Iraqis and fight al-Qaida or if it would cause backsliding in Iraqi stability.

Obama wants to shift the Pentagon’s focus so that troubled Afghanistan becomes the top military priority, by increasing the troop presence there as the U.S. footprint in Iraq grows smaller.


Rest of article at: http://armytimes.com/news/2009/01/ap_obama_pentagon_012709w/%2e